trail running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 1.5 mi (10:00 / mi)
shoes: Salomon trail shoes
Warmup/cooldown before the race. Had the pleasant side effect that I learned where the last serious hill was, which came in helpful later.
trail running race 24:29 [5] 3.14 mi (7:48 / mi) +60m 7:22 / mi
ahr:166 max:181 rhr:55 slept:6.5 shoes: Salomon trail shoes
CMS Wachusett Reservoir 5K race #1. The woods were quite pleasant. The trails were pine needles; the occasional root, but not too high; and some stretches with small stones (for the MDC vehicles to drive on, perhaps). Would be a great first trail race for a trail newbie, but none of the Sunday gang raced. There was a good turnout for a low-key club race, about 30+ runners.
After the first 50m, no one passed me, and I managed to reel in 3 runners. I counted I was in 12th place if the lead woman was leading the whole race. (Turns out after that two juniors sped off the front and were not visible when I counted places after the lead woman.) So instead of moving up from 12-11-10-9 I was actually moving up from 14-13-12-11.
One high school XC girl I had a good feeling I would pass. The last guy in front of me, a tall fellow, had an unusual stride, and I noticed he was not running the tangents in the woods. I was trying to stay in contact with him, but I don't think 20m back constitutes "in contact." As we entered the last loop, perhaps 0.75M, I planned to use the last major uphill to pass him. As it turned out, I passed him shortly after a turn, where I cut more sharply than he, on the flat prior to the long uphill. I tried to make the pass decisive so that he would not be tempted to chase up the hill.
Race segments: Start to the last-chance power drive: 23:34, HRave 166, HR at end 177; last-chance power drive to the end, 0:55, HRave 180, HR at end 180. (I do trust these readings, since it really felt like redlining.)
A fine race, a fine day for racing, even in spite of the misty weather.